#13 Shemot  (Maqam Rast)

Maqam Rast - similar to the Arabic word for 'head,' Rast is applied to the opening portions of each book of the Torah and at other beginnings. Rast is the primary maqam from which all other maqamat are drawn.

I am a turning* soul,

I have no face

no body

nothing really

all I have is a soul

I give it to you

Because you turned aside from your life

shared the suffering

like brothers and sisters

I will leave the ones above and the ones below

and be with you.

I am moved by you,

you give yourself away

I give Myself away

I stepped out of my life

 I returned to the story

I heard groaning and remembered

I give you my soul

I will be with you for the whole story

restore you

take you out from here

serve you forever.

I saw your suffering

I keep for myself Nothing

I give you my soul.

We are saving each other with nothing

giving up our separate selves

handing over our souls

saving ourselves with nothing.

SRH on Ex.2:24-25

Asurah v’er-eh

Ex. 3:4

[va-yish-ma Elohim et na-a-ka-tam]